China exported about 225 billion USD of goods to Africa in 2025, up roughly a quarter on the year, and Nigeria is one of the two largest destinations. Most of that volume lands through Lagos. The goods are rarely the problem. The problem is that a Nigerian import costs more in the middle than the buyer expected, and the gap is almost always in duty, levies and time at port.
Which port, and what it changes
| Port | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apapa (Lagos) | Containerised consumer goods | Busiest, slowest. Access roads and terminal congestion drive demurrage. |
| Tin Can Island (Lagos) | Containers, especially FCL | Same city as Apapa, usually a shorter queue, same documentation. |
| Onne (Port Harcourt) | Project cargo, south-east distribution | Less congested, fewer sailings from Chinese base ports. |
For a first order under 15 CBM, groupage into Lagos is usually the sensible choice even though the per-cubic-metre rate looks high. You avoid filling a container you do not have goods for, and you avoid a demurrage bill on a box that arrives before your paperwork does.
The documents that decide whether you clear
Four documents do most of the work, and one of them stops more shipments than the other three combined.
- Form M. Opened through your bank against a proforma invoice before shipment. The name, description, quantity and value must match the final commercial invoice. A mismatch here is the single most common cause of a container sitting at Apapa for three weeks.
- PAAR. The Pre-Arrival Assessment Report, issued by Nigeria Customs and used to calculate duty. It is generated from the documents you submit, so errors upstream become duty errors downstream.
- SONCAP. Required for products on the Standards Organisation of Nigeria regulated list, which covers a lot of electricals, toys, chemicals, and building materials. It has to be arranged before shipment; you cannot add it at the port.
- Bill of lading, invoice, packing list. Standard, but the shipper details, consignee and HS description have to line up with Form M and the PAAR line by line.
Practical rule: agree the product description and HS code with your clearing agent before the goods are made, not after they ship. Changing a description once the Form M is opened costs more time than getting it right at the quote stage.
Duty, VAT and the levies people forget
Nigerian import charges are calculated on CIF value: goods, plus freight, plus insurance. On top of the HS-code duty rate you have VAT at 7.5 percent, plus levies that commonly include an ECOWAS trade levy and a port supervision charge. Rates change with policy, so treat the structure below as the shape of the calculation rather than a fixed number.
| Charge | Base | Typical treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Import duty | CIF | Set by HS code. Ranges from 5 percent to 35 percent, with some goods higher. |
| VAT | CIF + duty | 7.5 percent, charged on the duty-inclusive value. |
| ECOWAS levy | CIF | 0.5 percent. |
| Port supervision | CIF | Around 1 percent, collected with duty. |
| Terminal and shipping | Per container | Charges at the terminal, plus shipping line fees and agency. |
Because VAT is charged on CIF plus duty, the effective rate is always higher than the duty rate alone. A buyer who budgets 20 percent for "customs" on a 25 percent duty line is short by roughly a third of the bill. Ask your clearing agent for the full computation on your HS code before you commit to the order.
Paying China from Nigeria
This is the part where the cheapest option is the most expensive. Nigeria's dollar supply is tight, so buyers look for ways to send value to China without going through a bank. Three routes exist, and only two of them are safe.
- Bank, against Form M. Slow, documented, and the only route that automatically produces the paperwork your import needs anyway. If the goods are going through a bank-financed Form M, the payment route is already decided.
- A licensed payment provider that settles RMB. Several providers now settle directly into Chinese currency for African corridors, including naira, cedi and shilling pairs. Faster than a bank, with a real counterparty and a receipt you can show.
- An informal channel that "has RMB in China". Someone takes your naira locally and someone else pays RMB in China. It works until it does not. When the Chinese receiving account is flagged, the frozen account is the one that received the money, and merchants caught in this have lost the payment and their operating balance together. Organised dealing of this kind also exposes the sender to currency-control offences.
There is a fourth consideration that matters more than the fee: the account the money goes to. If the RMB lands in a personal account rather than the factory's corporate account, you have no invoice trail and no claim. The licence check is how you verify that before sending anything.
A worked example
400 cartons of LED bulbs, 9 CBM, Ningbo to Lagos, goods bought for 3,200 USD at 1688 level pricing.
| Line | USD |
|---|---|
| Goods, in RMB at the 1688 price | 3,200 |
| Domestic move and repacking | 120 |
| Inspection and photos | 90 |
| Sea freight, LCL, 9 CBM | 780 |
| Export documents | 60 |
| Sourcing fee at 5 percent | 160 |
| Duty, VAT and levies at destination | your clearing agent's computation |
| Clearing agent, terminal and delivery in Lagos | usually 400 to 800 on a shipment this size |
The honest conclusion: below about 5,000 USD of goods, the fixed costs per shipment are a large share of the total, and the per-unit landed cost is poor. That is exactly why small wholesalers cluster into groupage and why agents charge a higher percentage on small orders. The fee structure is explained here.
Timing, and where the weeks go
| Stage | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Quote and confirm specification | 3 to 7 days |
| Form M opening | 3 to 10 days, bank dependent |
| Production | 7 to 20 days |
| Inspection and consolidation | 2 to 4 days |
| Sea freight to Lagos | 30 to 40 days |
| Clearance and delivery | 5 to 15 days, congestion dependent |
Demurrage starts when free time at the terminal runs out, and it is charged per container per day. Two weeks of delay on a 20ft box can cost more than the sourcing fee on the whole order. The way to avoid it is boring: documents right before the goods move, and a clearing agent appointed before the vessel sails, not when it arrives.
Questions buyers ask
Do you handle clearing in Lagos?
No. We are the China side: sourcing, payment, inspection, export documents and booking the freight. Clearing at Apapa or Tin Can is done by a licensed Nigerian agent, and you should have one before you place the order. We will work with whoever you appoint and send them the documents directly.
What is the smallest order worth shipping to Lagos?
Practically, around 3,000 to 5,000 USD of goods by groupage. Below that, air freight or a consolidator's shared container makes more sense, and some products are cheaper to buy from a Lagos importer than to import yourself.
Can the invoice show a lower value to reduce duty?
We do not do that, and it is worth understanding why. Nigerian Customs values against reference data for most HS codes, so a fabricated invoice is a flag rather than a saving. If the declared value is challenged, the cargo is held while it is revalued, and the penalty is charged to the importer, not the shipper.
How do I know the goods are right before they leave China?
Inspection before shipment, with photographs of cartons, quantities and labels, and a report you can compare against your specification. Once the container is on the water, correcting a mistake means paying freight twice.